Beckenbauer was to blame: crazy hostility between two world-class goalkeepers


Exactly thirty years ago, the two former fighters Toni Schumacher and Uli Stein celebrated reconciliation in Munich. This was preceded by a period of fierce arguments that escalated at the 1986 World Cup – and there was a surprising culprit.

Toni Schumacher’s reaction was clear: “If I found out today that I only played because of my Adidas contract, I would kill myself.” Five years after the scandal at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, a major German sports magazine wanted to reconcile the two goalkeepers Toni Schumacher and Uli Stein on the sidelines of the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt. And for that, the whole truth had to be on the table – even if it was quite painful for the Bavarian substitute keeper at the time.

The two world-class goalkeepers hadn’t spoken a single word to each other since the days in far-away Mexico. On the contrary: They only talked about each other – and mostly not very nicely. In this way, a deep aversion turned into an intimate enmity, which they both cultivated for years with verbal malice through the media. The situation between them finally escalated at the 1986 World Cup, when Uli Stein had to leave the national team prematurely because, as a constant troublemaker, according to the DFB, he was simply no longer acceptable. The supposed climax of the quarrels about Uli Stein was his legendary nickname for team boss Franz Beckenbauer: “Soup kasper”.

The atmosphere between Stein and Schumacher was already extremely tense during the weeks in South America, as the Cologne keeper himself wrote in his book “Anpfiff”: “His presence in Mexico was difficult to bear. I asked the assistant coach outside of the To be able to train the gaze and poison zone of the hateful ‘teammate’ Stein. ” According to Schumacher, Stein’s expulsion was “deserved” and a “relief” for the rest of the team. And then the two-time vice world champion became clear once again: “Beckenbauer’s patience with angels with this package of bundled character defects remained a mystery to me.”

“You can’t play here”

From Stein’s perspective, things looked completely different, of course. In his bestseller “Halftime” he wrote about these days at the World Cup: “Schumacher sensed the danger, he pulled out all the stops of psychological terror, including personal defamation in the media, in order to maintain his power.” But despite all the rivalry that was naturally lived out, the number 1 of the German national team at the time, Toni Schumacher, had never understood one thing: Why had Uli Stein kept going, although in Mexico it must have been clear to everyone at the latest after the first game that Schumacher was during of the entire tournament? Or was there someone who had given him further hope?

And this is exactly the question Schumacher asked his eternal opponent Uli Stein at the reconciliation meeting five years later – and received a surprising answer: It was the team boss himself. “After the first game, against Uruguay, Beckenbauer said to me under witnesses: ‘You, Uli, I know exactly that you are in world-class form. There is no one who holds better than you. But you cannot play here.’ It took me hours to process that! “

Ben Redelings

Ben Redelings is a passionate “chronicler of football madness” and a supporter of the glorious VfL Bochum. The bestselling author and comedian lives in the Ruhr area and maintains his legendary treasure trove of anecdotes. For ntv.de he writes down the most exciting and funniest stories on Mondays and Saturdays. More information about Ben Redelings, his current dates and his book with the best columns (“Between Puff and Barcelona”) can be found on his website www.scudetto.de.

Schumacher’s reaction to Stein’s words was accordingly clear, as “Sport-Bild” noted at the time: “Now I can understand Uli. You can do that with a sausage that doesn’t open its mouth, but not with Uli who was in a great mood back then. Franz is to blame for the noise! ​​”

Private contract with Adidas

And then Uli Stein told about his suspicions. An assumption that he has repeatedly expressed to this day. Most recently in an edition of “Markus Lanz”: “It’s about sponsors, about advertising contracts. In 1986, Beckenbauer had a private contract with Adidas, Schumacher had one – and I had no advertising contracts. Of course, a sponsor like Adidas attaches great importance to that the players who get paid high also play. “

Whether there was anything to the suspicion was never clarified. Franz Beckenbauer always denied everything. But at least the two former brawlers Toni Schumacher and Uli Stein ended their mad hostility and celebrated reconciliation exactly thirty years ago. Two world-class German goalkeepers who both deserved to play at the time. Unfortunately, only one of them could stand between the posts of the national team.

.